Friday, October 31, 2008

Trick or Treat!!

I know that Cubby of course has a flair for dramatic arts, and lets face it, he has loved dress up from the very beginning(Two christmases ago he asked for fairy wings). So it comes as no surprise that Halloween ranks pretty highly in his book but, when I heard a little "Trick or Treat" at 4:30 this morning, I thought I would never make it through the day. Hearing him discover his Halloween costume and becoming enamored with it was more than a delight to my heart. Isn't that funny how even though you do something for all of your kids, in your heart you know the act speaks more to one of them than another. Cubby was delighted with his costume, and his excitement spread right over into everyone, especially Little Daddy. And I have to say, that his delight made the stress of handmaking three costumes worth it, and when the Halloween party kicked off, the buzz between the Oompa Loompa's was electric! (If you haven't seen the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp, I'm telling you these costumes are spot on)

So, I can't speak for everyone, but the Halloween Bash in my opinion was a super blast!! Umm, bouncy house, jungle gym, gigi ball, story time and pinata plus 30 kids makes for a whole lot of fun, but mix in a table covered with sugary treats a driveway filled with bikes to ride on and a day of perfect fall weaher, and you have by far the best Halloween I've ever had. (Even if I did have to sing in front of all those adults!!)

Here is a little slide show of all the fun (little is not exactly accurate, it's pretty long), and some highlights for me personally.

1. Watching Mr. encourage Little Daddy to color carefully in the "crafts" area.2. Meeting all Cubby and Miss H's super cool school friends, and their moms. 3. A guest appearance by Miss Robyn and Miss Amanda4. Handmade treats by the famous Traci which were Little Frankenstein Rice Krispy treats. 5. Having 16 count them SIXTEEN leftover Costco cupcakes to devour!6. A graveyard Dirtcake that all the moms agreed tasted best on pretzels (and I was going to put out pita chips and hummus!!)7. Being able to spot the Oompa Loompa's from space (thank you red vinyl pleather)8. Knowing we have enough friends to fill up your backyard mid-morning on a Friday!!

So we rounded out the afternoon with a visit to Mr. Richard and Mrs. Pazel, because they are the closest thing to family we have in town. So I snapped a few pictures of these great friends. Finally Mr. Headed off to "work" and there was a blissful hour and half of silence in the house, as all the children slept. Of course this time was punctuated by political messages via the phone approximately every thirty minutes.

Then the fun began again, as we redressed, and loaded up our crew for trick-or-treating. A fellow mom of twins arrived with her twin boys (age 3) and 6 week old son and the 10 of us headed out into the night. There were lots of treats, a few tantrums and a very funny turn of events when Mr. decided to take Cubby and Miss H into a neighborhood haunted house (they didn't like it). Little daddy had had enough about 30 minutes in, and at that point was content to stay in the stroller lounging. Not even the lure of more candy could budge him. He also expressed great displeasure at a "Big Bad Wolf" that came a little too close. To his credit he put his hand up and said "No!" emphatically and repeatedly, instead of crying.

So I loved this Halloween, don't get me wrong, we are exhausted, and I may be a little sore from pushing that stroller so far with Sleeping Beauty strapped to me, but it was a pleasure to share our house, and backyard with so many friends, and bump into so many not as often seen friends in the moonlit magic of Halloween. How delighted I am to have so many great families around us that are creative and positive, what a blessing to have such great influences around us and our children. On the way back from trick or treating as I schlepped Cubby and Little Daddy in the Joovy Caboose, With Sleeping Beauty snuggled up in the Bjorn, Cubby called out into the night, "This is the best day ever, I got to go trick or treating in my costume." Talk about melting a mother's heart. I am always surprised at how much love your mother's heart can contain, and how much bubbles over. How thankful I am to just share this day with them, and a what a special sort of blessing to have a child express in earshot his thankfulness. Of course we all know, "This is the day that the Lord has made," but I made the costume myself!!

After a single piece of candy, several Oompa Loompa songs (more video to be posted soon) and a little talk about what next year's costumes would be, the kids are safely tucked into bed, and we, I have to say, are not far behind.